Dedicated
by Mouko
Summary: The bond of the Balfour siblings was one that few understood. How could two completely dissimilar people possibly get along? Is the bond of kinship really so strong as to overcome such differences? And what do snowballs have to do with any of this?


The morning sky was a crisp blue, with the occasional puff of white as a cloud drifted overhead. The wind seemed to be absent for the moment, making it a rather pleasant morning in Keterburg. Snow covered the ground as always, but wasn't so thick that a small child couldn't walk through it.

Nephry scuffled around in the snow, wearing boots and a thick pink and white snowsuit. She had the hood pulled over her head, locks of bright gold dangling out whenever she bent down to scoop up a handful of snow. Sitting nearby, propped up against the fence as if watching, was a ragdoll. It had short fluffy hair, a light blond color. It had two blue buttons for eyes, and two red stitches creating an 'X' for where the mouth was. Its wavy layered dress alternated between red and pink, with little red shoes covering its little feet.

The young Balfour girl patted the snow into a rather lopsided ball before stomping over to the sidewalk, setting the snowball down next to a large pile of other snowballs. Having done so, she promptly turned around and headed back into the drift to continue the process. The entire drift was riddled with holes, suggesting that she had spent most of the morning making the snowballs that rested on the sidewalk.

A short distance away from the growing pile of snowballs and Nephry was the Balfour home. It was rather lovely Victorian style manor near the edge of town, much like most of the homes in Keterburg, with a large yard that was encased by a sturdy fence with a gate that was almost always locked. Occasionally Mrs. Balfour could be seen peeking out the living room window at her daughter, checking up on Nephry, before going back to work within their home.

Suddenly out from the front door came another member of the Balfour family. Jade emerged from the house in rather nice clothes, which appeared to be in multiple layers. Brown leather boots covered the cuffs of thick tan colored pants and brown leather gloves overlapped the long sleeves of a green sweater that lay beneath a somewhat tattered brownish-red vest. The only accessories to his outfit was a tan canvas backpack that had seen better days and a green scarf tied loosely around his neck that covered the lower half of his face.

Neprhy immediately looked up at that and turned to stare at Jade, a ball of snow still in her mitten-covered hands. Upon confirming that it was indeed Jade, the young girl quickly rushed to her pile of snowballs as fast as her little legs could carry her.

Jade barely gave Nephry more than a glance of some faint interest before he focused on making his way along the sidewalk while noting to himself that it had been obviously hastily cleared by their father before going to work this morning. Normally the eldest child, namely himself, would be given such menial tasks, but his parents didn't care for his methods. He found using the fifth fonon in carefully controlled amounts could easily clean the sidewalk, but apparently his parents had no faith in his abilities in the fonic artes. They seemed convinced that if he tried cleaning the sidewalk with fire again that he was going to burn the house down on accident.

As Jade stared at the sidewalk in front of him, all of a sudden a snowball landed right at his feet in a sloppy mess. It splattered upon impact, leaving clumpy snow at his feet.

Jade paused to regard the small mound of snow before him and saw another snowball impact with the stone path a short distance away, though it too didn't quite reach him. He looked upward in the direction that the snowballs came from and gazed impassively at his would be attacker.

Nephry huffed and grunted as she grabbed another snowball before rearing her arm back and flinging it towards Jade. She wobbled slightly at the effort, struggling to keep her balance. This obviously had a negative impact on the throw as the snowball flopped to the sidewalk, nowhere near her target. She grunted with frustration and quickly grabbed another snowy projectile.

"What are you doing, Nephry?" Jade asked, his voice somewhat muffled by the scarf he wore.

"'m throwin' snowballs at you," Nephry replied before grunting, tossing the snowball at Jade and missing horribly.

"You're not doing it very well," Jade observed casually as he stepped around the snowballs in his way.

"'m gonna do it!" Nephry said firmly as she grabbed another snowball, clearly determined.

"Only if you're lucky if you keep doing it that way," Jade commented as he walked slowly along the sidewalk, watching another snowball fly woefully short of hitting him. "..._Very_ lucky."

"Not gonna give up," Nephry replied. "'ventually I'll get you."

"If I stand less than a meter away from you perhaps," Jade said, ignoring another snowball that hit the sidewalk a good distance behind him.

"Mooooooouuuuu...," Nephry made a noise of frustration and stomped her feet vigorously. "'m gonna figure it out!"

"Good luck with that," Jade said as he reached the gate and unlocked it.

Nephry stopped and turned to stare at Jade for a moment, before she suddenly pointed her finger at him. "Jade! Teach me!"

Jade paused, one hand still on the gate, before he turned back to regard his sister with one eyebrow raised curiously. "You want me to teach you how to hit me with a snowball?"

"Yes!" Nephry replied firmly, apparently seeing no problem in asking such a thing.

"Why would I want to teach you how to pelt me with snowballs?" Jade asked, his tone deadpan.

"'cuz you know how to do it," Nephry answered as she held up a snowball. "Show me how!"

"I could show you, but mother and father wouldn't want me to hit you with a snowball," Jade said as he glanced towards the window in time to see their mother gazing out at them nervously. She had been standing there staring at them since he had gone outside. At seeing that her son was watching her she quickly pretended to be cleaning the windows with a rag.

"So show me how to hit something else!" Nephry huffed, not willing to be dissuaded.

Jade looked back at Nephry and silently considered his little sister's demand. "There's no motivation for me to teach you to hit me when I can't hit you back," he explained. "But I might teach you if you pick someone else as your target, such as mother or father."

Nephry considered that for a moment, then nodded. "Okay."

"We should go to the playground," Jade said as he glanced at the window to see that their mother was still watching them. "There are plenty of targets to practice on over there."

"Okay!" Nephry hurried away from her pile of snowballs, stopping only to grab her doll, before reaching out her free hand to grab Jade's hand eagerly. "Let's go!"

Without hesitation Jade left the yard with Nephry, holding her hand in his with a sort of casual indifference that was to be expected of him. He only gave their house a brief glance out of the corner of his eye and noticed the look of panic on their mother's face as she watched them go. He didn't linger long enough for her to reach the front door so that she might protest against them leaving her sight.

---

It would be known for weeks to come as the Great Balfour Snowball Assault.

It started innocently enough, with the two Balfour children arriving at the playground. There were already numerous children and their parents at the playground, enjoying the lovely morning. While a few stopped to stare at the sight of Jade, most dismissed his presence with a rather frosty indifference.

It was a rather endearing scene of a boy teaching his younger sister how to properly make and throw a snowball. If it wasn't for the fact that the boy was Jade Balfour, also known by many in Keterburg as a devil in the form of a child, such a scene would be ignored as a harmless and common. However his very presence put many of the parents on edge and even the children already playing in the playground took care to avoid the Balfour children and the jungle gym they were using for target practice.

Finally one of the more fearless children stepped forward to protest against Jade and Nephry's use of the jungle gym, and how it prevented others from playing on it. He was promptly used by Jade as an example on how to properly disable an opponent through strategic snowball throws.

After that a massive snowball fight broke out across the playground. While Jade and Nephry were outnumbered, Jade had proven himself to be enough of a tactician that it didn't matter. In the end virtually everyone at the playground, including the parents, had become coated in snow, save for the Balfour children, and had been forced to retreat when it started to melt and freeze them.

Nephry giggled happily as she hurried off with Jade, clinging to his hand with a soggy mitten. She positively beamed, as if oblivious to the carnage they had left behind them. "Jade! I did it!"

Jade simply made a noncommittal noise in response. Ever since they left the playground, Nephry had done nothing but squeal over her accomplishments in the fight and the flawless victory they had achieved. It was as if she had forgotten that he had been there and had seen everything that she had done. He wanted to get his little sister back home as quickly as possible so that she could regale their mother with each and every detail again and again rather than boring him with such tedious repetition.

Unfortunately Jade knew that before long the bothersome cycle would start all over again. Nephry would try to get his attention and assistance and he would have to grant it in order not to suffer her inept actions, or worse, a tantrum. With his involvement helping her succeed in whatever it was she did she would thereafter celebrate such an accomplishment until the next time she needed something.

It was annoying, but it wasn't as if there was anyone else in Keterburg competent enough to help Nephry grow up properly. Such were the duties of an older brother.


End file.
